Shockers defeat South Florida in first round of AAC tourney 4-2

Luke Ritter and Alec Bohm provided key hits and Keylan Killgore pitched brilliantly as seventh-seeded Wichita State stunned second-seeded South Florida 4-2 in the first round of the American Athletic Conference Tournament on Wednesday in Clearwater, Fla.

Killgore (4-1), the redshirt sophomore from Wichita Heights, went a collegiate high six innings, striking out seven and walking one. He allowed just four hits and one unearned run.

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Bohm broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-run double, and Ritter put the Shockers (35-19-1) up by two with a two-out single in the eighth.

The victory in the the school’s first game in the postseason tourney puts the Shockers against the winner of the Cincinnati-Connecticut game, later Wednesday.

WSU scored first with a bases-loaded walk to Ross Cadena in the first inning.

Killgore relieved starter Adam Keller to start the third and retired the first five batters he faced. The next three batters reached, loading the bases. Killgore got Duke Stunkel to ground out.

Killore then retired the six batters he faced. The only run he allowed came when rightfielder Alex Jackson dropped a fly ball from Tyler Dietrich. Dietrich scored on a single by Coco Montes.

Notes: WSU is 25-5 when it scores first. . . . Ritter stretched his hitting streak to 10 games, getting three hits. He’s hit safely in 29 of his last 30 games. In his 10-game streak, he is hitting .455 (20 for 44). . . . WSU is 12-11 on the road. . . . Keller made his first start this season.. . . Reaching base three times, Greyson Jenista upped his on-base percentage to .458.